1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus, such as an ink jet printer.
2. Related Art
In general, ink jet printers (hereinafter referred to as “printers”) are widely known as liquid ejecting apparatuses which eject liquid from a liquid ejecting head thereof. Such printers perform printing operations by supplying ink to a recording head (liquid ejecting head) from ink cartridges accommodating ink (liquid), and then by ejecting the ink onto recording media (targets) from nozzles formed on a nozzle formation surface.
Such printers perform flushing operations as appropriate, which discharge ink from all nozzles not for the purpose of printing, in order to reduce the risk of dehydration and clogging of the ink in the nozzles during or not during printing. Flushing is usually performed in the non-printing area of the printer, where no printing is performed. However, in the case of line head printers, the recording heads of which are in a fixed position, flushing is performed in the printing area.
An example of a known line head printer which performs its flushing operation in the printing area is that according to JP-A-2003-341158. The printer according to JP-A-2003-341158 has a platen member (rotating member) disposed so as to rotate about the central axis, the platen member including an ink absorbing surface (absorbing surface) and a recording medium supporting surface (supporting surface).
In printing operations, the platen member functions as a supporting member for recording media (targets), that is, the platen member is turned to cause the recording medium supporting surface thereof to face ink discharging ports (nozzles) of a line head (recording head). Meanwhile, in non-printing operations, the platen member functions as an absorbing member for flushing ink, that is, the platen member is turned to cause the ink absorbing surface thereof to face the ink discharging ports of the line head.
In the printer according to JP-A-2003-341158, the length from the central axis to the ink absorbing surface of the platen member is shorter than that from the central axis to the recording medium supporting surface. Therefore, the distance from the line head to the ink absorbing surface (FIG. 4B in JP-A-2003-341158) is greater than that from the line head to the recording medium (FIG. 4A in JP-A-2003-341158). Such design of the printer is problematic because the ink discharged from the discharging ports during flushing may scatter as mist and foul the inside of the printer.